LEAKED: Here Are The Four Documents Showing CPD’s Leadership Failure
Every news agency has these documents, though no one has made them available for public viewing. We believe the public has a right to know. That’s why we are leaking them for you. Explore the full story to see the four CPD documents that city officials and news media don’t want you to see.
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An artistic expression of an officer of the Columbus Police Department peering over a leaked document icon, superimposed on a colorized map of the city. Four professional studies of the Columbus, Georgia Police Department have shown the leadership failures of chief Freddie Blackmon for years, though no news agency has made the documents available for public viewing — except Muscogee Muckraker.
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Muscogee Muckraker
By
Muscogee Muckraker
Published
February 20, 2023
Updated
March 30, 2023 2:12 AM
ET

Are we on the right path as a city? What are your thoughts as the reader? Be sure to follow Muscogee Muckraker on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to see our upcoming stories as they break throughout the coming week.

COLUMBUS, Ga. — This is the first article of a new six-part series by Muscogee Muckraker covering the four documents leaked in this article. If you’re new to the topics covered in this series, you can get caught up through our previous works here.

Four professional studies of the Columbus Police Department have shown the leadership failures of chief Freddie Blackmon for years. The results of those studies have been contained in documents held close-to-the-chest by city officials and news media outlets.

Every news agency has these documents, though no one has made them available for public viewing. We believe the public has a right to know. 

That’s why we are leaking them for you. 

Read on to see the four CPD documents that city officials and news media don’t want you to see.

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COLUMBUS POLICE DEPARTMENT SWOT REPORT (2021)

Columbus Police Department ... by Muscogee Muckraker

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CPD RETENTION COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS (1/30/2022)

CPD Retention Committee Rec... by Muscogee Muckraker

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FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE SURVEY FINDINGS (2/22/2022)

Fraternal Order of Police S... by Muscogee Muckraker

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JENSEN HUGHES OPERATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF THE COLUMBUS, GA POLICE DEPARTMENT; DRAFT REPORT (11/11/2022)

Jensen Hughes Operational A... by Muscogee Muckraker

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Stay with the Muckraker as we comb through these documents in the rest of this six-part series.

Back Our Blue.

Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.

-30-

© 2023 Muscogee Muckraker. All rights reserved.

Previous Coverage:

Be sure to follow Muscogee Muckraker on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to see all the muck that’s fit to print as it breaks throughout the coming week.

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The Latest
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CCG intends to issue $50 million of taxpayer-backed bonds to renovate Golden Park for MiLB Minor League Baseball without any referendum. To top that off, the project’s laughable details have been kept hidden from the public in private meetings — so we’re leaking them for you. Explore the full story to see CCG’s term sheet for using $50 million of your dollars to subsidize Minor League Baseball without bothering to ask you first.
CCG intends to issue $50 million of taxpayer-backed bonds to renovate Golden Park for MiLB Minor League Baseball without any referendum. To top that off, the project’s laughable details have been kept hidden from the public in private meetings — so we’re leaking them for you. Explore the full story to see CCG’s term sheet for using $50 million of your dollars to subsidize Minor League Baseball without bothering to ask you first.
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The city council meeting held on Feb. 28 was filled with divisive falsehoods blaming ‘racism’ for police chief Freddie Blackmon’s leadership failures — though one man’s integrity and courage allowed him to speak up and tell the truth. Explore the full story to see how Mr. Byron Hickey’s 30 years of police experience just showed our city what real leadership looks like.
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Given the extreme fallout that has occurred in recent months, the initial appointment of police chief Freddie Blackmon was rather obviously quite flawed. When examined, a long pattern of behavior from our city’s elected officials reveals how that came to be. Explore the full story to see how the Columbus City Council can avoid a repeat ‘Blackmon Scenario.’
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